The New York Mets made it their goal at the trade deadline to upgrade the squad’s Achilles heel: the bullpen. President of baseball operations David Stearns did just that as the organization made numerous trades and waiver claims to revamp the bullpen.
However, how the bullpen looked on deadline day was never meant to be permanent, with many of the Mets’ top relief arms on the injured list and preparing to return.
Now one of those arms is ready to return with Reed Garrett being activated off the injured list. So, to clear a spot in the bullpen, the blue and orange choose to option a recently acquired relief pitcher to Triple-A Syracuse.
The Mets have optioned Alex Young back to Triple-A Syracuse
According to Tim Britton of the Athletic, the Mets plan to option relief pitcher Alex Young to make space on the roster for Garrett, who is set to return from the 15-day injured list on Saturday.
Young came to the Mets organization just a couple of weeks ago after being placed on waivers by the San Francisco Giants, who had acquired the left-hander from the Cincinnati Reds the week prior.
The blue and orange assigned the 30-year-old to Triple-A Syracuse, where Young threw just 0.2 of a scoreless inning across one appearance before being called to the big leagues, where he has been in the Mets bullpen since.
Young had been incredibly effective in his return to the majors, pitching seven innings across seven appearances to a 1.29 ERA with a 1.000 WHIP and six strikeouts.
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Why did the Mets option Young?
While many thought that once Garrett was ready to return, it would be Adam Ottavino who would be packing his bags, including Ottavino, who was quoted earlier this week as saying it would be “foolish” for the Mets to release him as he seemingly also had read the writing on the wall.
However, the Mets opted to send down Young as that was the only way to keep everyone in the organization for the time being. Ottavino still isn’t safe, though, with Dedniel Núñez progressing in his own rehab and needing a spot back in the bullpen sooner rather than later.
As for Young, this is likely just a temporary move until the bullpen has a spot reopened for him via underperformance or injury.
